final thoughts... “With the passing of Bond Measure JJ in November 2009, the College,

for the first time in it’s nearly 50 years of operation, has the funds needed

to create a greatly improved learning environment for its students.”

G.H. Javaheripour ~ V.P., Administrative Services

We hope you have enjoyed the first issue

of a newsletter created to keep you

informed about current and upcoming

projects taking place at the college. We

felt that with the passing of the Bond and

so many projects currently in the works, it

was time to find a medium to keep you

informed. We anticipate sending out

issues of this newsletter on a quarterly

basis, and encourage you to submit any

questions to the Facilities Department

that you would like to see addressed in

future issues. As we strive to create a

better maintained, more state-of-the-art

Institiution, we encourage input from all

constituents of the college. The

Facilities Committee meetings are

usually held on the 3rd Friday of the

month at 3:00 p.m. in the West Wing

Conference Room (Administration Bldg.

#10). These meetings are where many

of the recommendations for current and

future projects get a voice. Meetings are

open to faculty, staff and students that

might like to sit in. Just contact Michelle

Messer at ext. 2199 to find out the next

meeting date.

Contact us at 760-245-4271, ext. 2250, 2199

www.vvc.edu/offices/facilities

Creating Curb Appeal ~ Campus Beautification

Park Yourself Right Here

A Campus for Training Our Hereos

Power from Our Closest Star

A Signal for Change

Fix the Gym Cooling System? No Sweat!

Repairing Lots of Lots

in this issue >>>

A Newsletter from the Facilities Construction Department Keeping You Up-to-Date & Informed

VVCC your campus current topics >>>

Park Yourself Right Here

Dedicated Faculty & Staff Parking

Reinstated on Main Campus

“It is difficult to expect your students to be on time

for class if you can’t get to class on time yourself.”

~ Debby Blanchard, P.E. Chair, Faculty

The Facilities Committee met to brainstorm and figure

out how best to provide parking for faculty and staff

members. A recommendation for dedicated

Faculty/Staff parking lots was presented to Cabinet,

and approved. These lots are marked in red in the

photo below. Parking lots are dedicated to faculty and

staff during the hours of 6:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., at

which time all parking becomes open to students as

well. These changes will be implemented along with

the parking lot repairs this summer.

Creating Curb Appeal Making a good first impression counts!

With change in leadership comes change in vision. Interim Superintendent / President,

Dr. Christopher O’Hearn’s vision is focused on VVCC’s main campus. Exciting changes

are coming your way, and these include a campus-wide beautification plan.

The Board approved a contract with

local architects Frick, Frick, and Jette

who have teamed up with Webb

water and maintenance required while

creating a dramatic new look for the

campus. The foundation for the

landscape

areas of the campus. In determining

where to begin the process, Dr.

O’Hearn wanted to select areas that

would make the biggest impact. The

beautification project includes the

creation of landscape standards and

guidelines for trees, shrubs, landscape

materials, and site furnishings for all

phases. The goal of the new

guidelines is to reduce the amount of

that currently exists on campus.

Decomposed granite will be used in

combination with shade trees and

benches to create seating areas for

reading, studying and relaxing.

Flowering shrubs, cacti and succulents

will add color and interest. “The new

landscape will be both beautiful and

enduring.” said Interim Superintendent

President Dr. Christopher O’Hearn.

landscape design will be large

boulder outcroppings mixed

with rock cobble and

decomposed granite. The

different colors and textures of

the rock materials will create

movement and break up the

large expanses of bare soil

“The new

landscape will be

both beautiful

and enduring.”

Victor Valley Community College District

18422 Bear Valley Road

Victorville, CA 92395

coming soon >>>

In The Next Issue

It’s as Easy as Boiling Water

Breaking Ground on the Eastside

Who Makes These Decisions Anyway?

A One-Stop Shop ~ A Multitude of Services

West Side Story

Issue

ONE

Associates to design a

campus-wide landscape

beautification master plan.

This plan will be

implemented in three

phases, the first of which

will focus on the main

entrance and frontage

May 2010

Building Design The Eastside Public Safety Training

Center, an independent campus located in

Apple Valley on the corner of Johnson

and Navajo Road, combines an inviting

learning environment with special training

props to create the perfect setting for

educating future police, fire, and medical

emergency professionals.

Fire/Police CERT City Prop Area This is one of the primary

components for the multi-

use / joint-agency

specialized tactical training

programs at the center. It

offers tremendous

This is the first of an ongoing

series of articles dedicated to

updating you on the

construction of the Eastside

Public Safety Training Center.

Things are moving along

quick, and we want you to be

informed of the progress.

set the stage >>>

A Campus for Training our Hereos

opportunities for the development of

complete role-playing training scenarios.

Indoor Shooting Range Within the campus plan is a nine-lane

indoor tactical firing range where scene

rinactment can take place, including

shoot-don’t shoot situations using paint

ball, laser or similar nonlethal

ammunition.

Burn Tower A five-story training tower has been

designed to accommodate numerous

training exercises. Each side of the tower

will be significantly different, providing

various challenging approach, planning

and access conditions.

Next Time The next issue dedicated to this amazing

new facility will look at sustainability

features, including the specific building

design plan and solar technology to help in

the overall operating costs of this campus.

Fix the Gym Cooling System? No Sweat!

ask the experts >>>

How many rooms are on the campus? The main campus has 731 rooms.

A Signal for Change

With the signing of the

Memorandum of

Understanding between

“For years the Main Gymnasium cooling system has been insufficient

during the hot desert summers. Classes have even been cancelled in the

past due to temperature issues.” ~ Jaye Tashima, Athletics Director

Built in 1994, this 31,500 square foot facility

is used for everything from wrestling to

volleyball to yoga classes. Even

commencement ceremonies took place in

the main gym in the past.

In an ongoing effort to update facilities and

meet current standards, the Facilities

Department contracted to repair leaking

expansion joints in the walls on the south

side of the building.

Now the focus for this facility is on

upgrading the Heating, Ventilation, and Air

Conditioning (HVAC) system.

The current evaporative cooling

technology which the building was

originally built with is energy efficient

and normally works well in the High

Desert climate. This system works by

putting moisture into the air and

delivering it at a high volume. The

draw back is the system does not work

well when outside humidity levels are

high. These systems are past their

useful life, and have become

increasingly unreliable and costly to

repair. We will be replacing the current

evaporative system with a direct

expansion (DX) cooling system. This

system has advantages of lower

capital cost, less maintenance, and

easier installation over other cooling

systems.

The Facilities and Maintenance &

Operations departments are working

together with the architect, structural,

and electrical engineers to complete a

design and advertise the project for

contractors to bid on. We anticipate

completion during the fall semester,

taking advantage of the seasonal

transition of mild weather.

The college’s 253 acres is comprised of 41 buildings, and 731 classrooms, labs,

offices and meeting rooms. It also includes multiple athletic fields, tennis courts,

a five acre lake, and an abundance of open land for future building sites.

Very few campuses have the room that VVCC has to expand.

Over the summer months Cooley

Construction will begin replacing parking

lots 5, 6, 7, 8, 17, 18 and 19. Lots 5 – 8 are

located in front of Counseling &

Administration, PAC, SS1, and SS2. Lots

17 – 19 are located in front of Automotive

and Voc. Ed. Along with the removal and

replacement of the existing asphalt, Cooley

will create a better path of travel for students

and staff within the lots.

While there will be some inconvenience

during this work, the Facilities Department

has worked diligently with the contractor to

assure that PAC performances are

considered. Work is scheduled to begin

after the end of the spring semester, and

completed well before the fall semester

begins.

Repairing Lots of Lots

Save the Date!

bright ideas >>>

Power from Our Closest Star

The Solar Plant Grand Opening

is scheduled for May 25, 2010,

9:30 a.m.

Victor Valley Community College

District, in conjunction with Solfocus,

Inc. invites you to attend the Grand

Opening of the One-Megawatt Solar

Generating Facility. California

Lieutenant Governor Abel Maldonado

will be giving the keynote address.

Solar Generating Facility

Victor Valley Community College is

installing the largest single system

of Concentrating Photovolatic

(CPV) technology in North America.

This type of system uses large area

lenses to focus sunlight on small

areas of photovoltaic cells, creating

a high concentration of direct

sunlight and higher efficiency.

The College, ASB, Excelsior and the Cities of

Victorville and Hesperia, the long awaited

signal at Bear Valley and Fish Hatchery

Roads will soon become a reality.

Construction is scheduled to begin sometime

in early fall of 2010.

Q: A:

This 122 panel array covers

approximately 6 acres of the lower

campus. Each array (see above) is 18

feet tall by 26 feet wide. The system

tracks the sun independently throughout

the day and produces enough power to

supply 3 large homes each day. The

college will save an estimated $20

million over the next 25 years, including

almost $4 million of incentive money

from California Solar Initiative.